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Hot pots and octopi. Ambitious chefs stealing secrets and sharpening blades. Finding peace in the bustle of a morning commute through a maze of trains and subways. Building a nest in Northwest BC. This all makes sense, right? No? Well head over to the Smithers Art Gallery from August to September and take in ITAMAE – an exhibit of photos and text from a creative project that might be succinctly described as a Japanese-foodie-culture-shock-getting lost and then finding oneself story. You know […]

You’ve got to learn from the stuff that you don’t like so much. You’ve got to get them out there, share them. Advice from a friend on developing one’s art. You know, those photos that didn’t quite make it into the portfolio. After all, it’s here in the dregs, in the “meh…” pile, this is where the learning ought to be. Now, I’m fairly merciless when it comes to deleting the stuff that I deem crappy, but I have a […]

Big announcement time for the thoughtful drivel blog… The book project I’ve been working on for the past year is now published! It’s called Itamae: My Life in Front of the Cutting Board and it’s a unique blend of personal diary, cookbook, and photo essay. The author is a chef friend of mine named Avi Sternberg, and last January he asked me if I could help tell his story through photos. As the back cover tells it: “After a life-altering motorcycle accident […]

So I’ve got these 5 little shot cups. I like ’em. They say things in Russian, I think it is. I have no idea. I picked them up from a dishware store in Nara, Japan. Five little metal Russians vessels nestled in a neat padded box, surrounded by lacquer ware and pottery. I wonder how they got there. But I know what they’re waiting for. They’re waiting for sake. In Japan last March, I had the opportunity to tour a […]